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A Recap of the 2023 ICOYC World Forum
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Representatives from ICOYC Member Clubs convened at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, September 18-22, for 11 sessions of informative presentations from around the world, covering topics such as strategic planning, sustainability, capital planning and more. All Forum material is now available on the ICOYC’s website, and below are some highlights and resources for ICOYC members.
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Why the ICOYC Matters
John McNeill | ST. FRANCIS YACHT CLUB
Membership in ICOYC is a grand opportunity to improve our sport and our individual clubs. Like most opportunities, though, the rewards only come from taking active advantage of what is offered. If you do not step forward, there is nothing to be gained. In this case the gains to be enjoyed are not ours, but our clubs’.
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SESSION 1: STRATEGIC PLANNING
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A Framework for Effective Strategic Planning for Private Clubs
Chris Barron | CLUB BENCHMARKING
In this keynote presentation at the 2023 ICOYC World Forum, Club Benchmarking’s Chris Barron presented the status of strategic planning in the private club industry, outlined its importance and how key data points can serve the planning process, reviewed the characteristics of effective strategic plans, and provided participants with a framework for creating a new model for their own strategic plans.
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From Strategic Planning Comes a Master Facilities Plan
Scott Boyle | ST. PETERSBURG YACHT CLUB
St. Petersburg Yacht Club’s bylaws require a strategic plan be completed every five years. In 2021, the Long Range Planning Committee hired J.R. Sullivan to complete a membership survey and that process identified a key weakness: lack of a master facilities plan. Member Focus Groups were held to review “Good, Better and Best Plans,” with 20 focus groups and over 300 members participating to help guide a vision for the club’s future.
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Strategic Pillars Support a Club’s Purpose
Tony Hanna | ROYAL THAMES YACHT CLUB
Royal Thames Yacht Club used its vision and purpose to guide its strategic planning. Using a "pillars" model, they defined the key supporting elements of their on-the-water and off-the-water purpose and vision, which are then underpinned by financing and investments.
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People, Assets & Experience Build a Club
Rob McLean | ROYAL VANCOUVER YACHT CLUB
To define their overall strategic plan, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club identifies three priority areas: people, assets and experience. Within each of those areas, the club further refines and deploys its plan by outlining goals, objectives, strategies and key activities that support their people, their assets and the experiences they can provide as a club.
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What GMs Should Tell their Boards: A Panel Discussion
Session 2 of the 2023 ICOYC World Forum featured a panel discussion on the topic of GM relations with their club Boards. Moderated by Royal Vancouver Yacht Club’s Jeff Merrin, participating panelists were Brian Asch of Annapolis Yacht Club, Mark Bovaird of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Vanessa Clifford of Royal Thames Yacht Club, Andy Feathers of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, and Rhett Robicheaux of St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
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The Lifecycle of Membership
Southern Yacht Club’s Bob Kottler moderated this panel with participants Rich Long, General Manager of Long Beach Yacht Club, Patrik Salén of Royal Swedish Yacht Club, and Shannon Herschbach, co-founder of Pipeline Agency, which helps club coordinate their brand development, membership strategy, digital assets, social media, CRM, marketing and communications to grow their membership.
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Capital Planning
Moderated by Bob Kottler of Southern Yacht Club, this session explored how different clubs tackle capital planning challenges with participants from Annapolis Yacht Club and Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Eric Gregory of Club Benchmarking, a US-based organization that provides expertise in finance and business intelligence to the private club industry, presented insights on the capital planning process.
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SESSION 7: COMMUNICATIONS
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Communicating in a Digital World
St. Francis Yacht Club’s past Commodore John McNeill moderated this presentation of communications strategies from Verity King at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, and Koko Mueller of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, covering everything from effective email campaigns to crisis communications in the fast-paced digital world.
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SESSION 8: SUSTAINABILITY
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Sustainability is Part of Everything We Do
Denis Martinet | ROYAL HONG KONG YACHT CLUB
Sustainability is a core value at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, where it’s been formalized in the committee structure and in action across multiple facets of the club, from facilities operations and dining to their support vessels and regatta management. They present their vision and practices in a four-minute video.
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ESG Drives a Club’s Action Plan
Robert Flaechsig | VEREIN SEGLERHAUS AM WANNSEE
Verein Seglerhaus Am Wannsee uses an ESG framework to integrate environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities into a club-development strategy to build long-term financial sustainability and value creation.
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Social Sustainability
Fernando Gomez | SALINAS YACHT CLUB
At Salinas Yacht Club, environmental sustainability includes supporting and sustaining the local community, through outreach and initiatives that benefit society. The Club’s Foundation supports healthcare and education initiatives, workforce development, sailing opportunities, rebuilding efforts and more in the local community.
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SESSION 9: VISIONING THE FUTURE
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Youth & Women’s America’s Cup
Mark McLean | AMERICA’S CUP CANADA
Team Canada is preparing for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona by supporting the formation of an all-women team to not only compete against the best teams in the world, but also to build a legacy platform for the next generation of world-class high-performance sailors and America’s Cup competitors from Canada.
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ICOYC’s Future
Colin Morehead | ICOYC SUBCOMMITTEE
A presentation from Colin Morehead representing the subcommittee of the ICOYC tasked with framing the organization’s future and evaluating how it’s delivering on its mission, vision and purpose.
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